Nowitzki answered Wells' poor sportsmanship in the fourth
quarter by scoring 12 of his 29 points in the final period,
leading the Mavericks to an impressive 106-101 victory over the
Trail Blazers in a volatile game.

"It was an intense basketball game," Dallas coach Don Nelson
said. "It was about as crazy a game as I've ever been involved
in. It was a hard game for the referees to referee because of
the antics by the Trail Blazers."

Wells incited the Mavericks when he purposely tripped Michael
Finley with just over seven minutes to play and Dallas clinging
to a two-point lead. After a brief skirmish between Finley and
Wells, Nowitzki calmly went on a scoring spree.

"Bonzi did not have anything going his way at the time and I
knew he was going to foul someone hard or something," Finley
said. "But I never thought it would be me."

The 7-foot German hit three straight free throws, including two
technicals, and added two more from the line with 3:45 to play,
giving Dallas a 91-86 lead. He was also the recipient of a hard
foul from Wells on a layup attempt.

"Well, it really didn't have anything to do with the Mavericks,"
Wells said of his aggressive play. "This game just kind of got
out of hand. A lot of technical fouls were being called, a lot
of fouls were being called, so both teams didn't really get into
a groove. There's no bitter blood, no bad blood. We respect
Dallas as a team, all their players. It just kind of got out of
hand."

Nowitzki converted a three-point play with three minutes left
and hit back-to-back jumpers to make it 102-94 with under a
minute remaining, all but assuring the Mavericks revenge for a
95-84 loss at Portland on November 30.

Nowitzki finished 11-of-19 from the floor, 6-of-6 at the line
and grabbed 12 rebounds while blocking a pair of shots in 38
minutes.

"I was just letting the game come to me," Nowitzki said. "My
teammates always gave me the ball in the right spot and I was
just playing with the flow of the team. I was open and just did
my thing."

Damon Stoudamire scored 22 points and Rasheed Wallace added 20
and had to play the unfamiliar role of peacemaker when Portland
coach Mike Dunleavy went on a rant and earned an ejection with
just under six minutes to play.

"A disappointing game in a lot of ways for us," Dunleavy said.
"We lost our composure. Some of the calls were tough calls but
we didn't stay disciplined enough. Both teams mixed it up. They
got into it. We took the brunt of it and we let them take the
game from us."

These teams are scheduled to meet twice more this season in
March.

"No tone needs to be set. They are an excellent team," Dunleavy
said of upcoming encounters with Dallas. "They have got the
ability to beat us. That's enough incentive as it is. We have
to come on strong and be ready to play 48 minutes against this
team. We played 48 minutes the last time and we got a good win.
Tonight we had lapses. We let our emotions get to us and they
took the game away."

Dallas center Shawn Bradley, who stuck up for Finley during the
brief but heated exchange with Wells, was also ejected with less
than a minute to play as the teams refused to play nice. In
all, there were 11 technical fouls and a pair of ejections.

Finley scored 20 points and Steve Nash added 18 and eight
assists for the Mavs, who shot 49 percent (40-of-81) and held a
47-34 rebounding advantage.

Trailing 78-76 entering the fourth quarter, the Mavericks, not
the Blazers, showed the grit of a perennial playoff team and
Western Conference power. Portland has made the postseason every
season since 1982-83 -- the longest current streak in the
league.

"This was the closest thing to a playoff game that I've ever
been in as far as the crowd and the intensity of both teams,"
Finley said. "The whole atmosphere was like a playoff
atmosphere."

After a dunk by Wallace gave Portland a four-point lead, Finley
drilled a 17-footer and Howard Eisley scored on consecutive
trips to give Dallas an 82-80 lead with 9:59 to play.

"Normally (the technicals are) not very good for the flow of the
game," Nowitzki said. "But somehow we always got together and
said, `Let's stay focused, let's try to win this game.' That's
what we did. We did a great job."

"Dirk's having a great year for sure," Dunleavy said. "He's a
unique type of player. He's got the ability to score from the
outside, pick up the dribble. He's an excellent shooter He's an
excellent competitor."